How Would You Change the Entertainment Lineup?

[VMax1700]

guitarist, pianists, comedians etc are mostly 'average' in my view. End of cruise report would be 6/10 - Must try harder!

 

Floor shows and production shows - mediocre at best 5/10 - Please try again!

 

BBKing show - outstanding!

Now I will only book a HAL cruise that has BBK.

I do agree with the poster who mentioned the 3 sets each night(which are 45 minutes each). I think they should just do one set - from 10.30 to midnight. If the ship is rockin', then don't start knockin'

:D

Edited February 1, 2015 by VMax1700

[sammiedawg]

Count me as another that would like more lectures, especially related to the itinerary being followed.

 

Apparently HAL does not always have lecturers on shorter cruises -- I have not had any on my HAL cruises (none longer than 12 days).

 

Our last two cruises were 14 days each, no enrichment or guest lecturers. I do not consider shopping talks informative, They had some recorded port information playing on stateroom TV, mostly about ship shore excursions. We were especially disappointed on our 14 day Norway sailing, no information was disseminated on the history, culture, geography. The shore excursion people had a session on how to book tours, sorry but I'm not interested.

Loss of guest lecturers is a huge cutback and is something I think about when choosing a cruise line.

[elycelynne]

I was really disappointed that they eliminated the position of "travel guide" from their staff -- Someone who could actually give presentations about the ports you were going to be visiting. Now all that's left are the shore excursion guide and the shopping guide ($$$).

 

I would also be in favor of some guest lecturers. The kinds of presentations that I've seen all center around revenue-producing ventures -- spa presentations that are nothing more than a ploy to get you to buy some Steiner product, art "talks" that center around artists whose works happen to be available for purchase, etc. ($$$).

 

And I agree that showing a movie in the main showroom on one night per cruise is pretty lame "entertainment".

[nana51]

I like comedians and hate "dancing with the stars". You can't please everyone, that is for sure. I would love some more contemporary music. Maybe Beyonce, Adele, etc.

[Wakepatrol]

I like comedians and hate "dancing with the stars". You can't please everyone, that is for sure. I would love some more contemporary music. Maybe Beyonce, Adele, etc.

 

Be very careful Nana51,throwing names out like Beyoncé and Adele on here is grounds for being tar and feathered. I hope the Queen Bee doesn't see your post:eek:

Edited February 1, 2015 by Wakepatrol

[POA1]

My needs are simple. (Feel free to laugh, but this is true.) I would like to be able to request "Ain't No Woman Like The One I Got" by the Four Tops - and not be told that, "We don't know that one."

 

Jason, from the current BB King line up on the Nieuw Amsterdam gave us an impromptu, a capella rendition in the Northern Lights one night after a show - but the rest of the band didn't know it, so it wasn't on the set list. As for the HAL Cats... The request is met with a three mile stare.

 

The song was a Billboard Top 10 hit in 1973. While I realize that some of my fellow cruisers went to high school with Methuselah, I can assure you that this is a "nice song." It's not loud. It's not screeching.

 

You can listen here:

 

http://youtu.be/1So17HOgM8c

 

If "Ain't No Woman" ain't possible, I would like Billy Joel's "She's Got A Way" to play on command.

 

 

Other than that, I'm pretty good with the entertainment offerings.

[Danni3ll3]

Reading this thread is starting to scare me somewhat. Just what kind of music is played on HAL ships? It sounds like stuff from the 40s and stuff that would be played on Lawrence Welk. Not my cup of tea and even less for my 27 year old daughter. Maybe we will be so tired from the port excursions that we won't care.

 

 

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[RuthC]

Just what kind of music is played on HAL ships? It sounds like stuff from the 40s and stuff that would be played on Lawrence Welk.

Except for an occasional song or two, especially for dance music at cocktail time, that style of music has been missing from HAL for years now.

They even removed the music station on the TV that played easy listening (such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme).

[lazey1]

Get rid of all Adagio and get some musicians that can play songs that do not sound like a funereal dirge; bring back the Rosario Strings. Git rid of all comedians, ventriloquists and jugglers.

Remove all soprano singers and replace them with alto or contralto singers that do not scream and hurt the eardrums.

Have more production and floor shows.

Continue guest lecturers on the 30 day and longer cruises but add at least 1 guest lecturer on the shorter cruises.

 

Just my opinion but that is what you asked for isn't it:confused:

[serendipity1499]

Increase the budget.

 

Hire a competent person to lead the entertainment selection group or outsource to a company that specializes in this.

 

More contemporary acts.

 

Fancy costumes and loud sound do not make up for poor acts. Chop the production shows in favor of individual artists.

 

Individual Artists only if they are good.. So many of them are poor! I really enjoy the Production Shows & would not like to see them cut..

 

We miss the production shows that HAL did years ago. They lasted an hour -- scenery was great. And as you entered the show room you were given a program.

 

Agree that Production Shows of yesteryear were much better!

[Sea Belle]

In Dec. on the Maasdam we enjoyed smooth music by a trio in the Ocean Bar. Our preference is for that type if the "Big Band Era" cannot appear. Oh for the days when we enjoyed Tommy Dorsey, Glen Miller, etc. bands backed by a variety of artists. Often we would book a cruise because of the headliners. We do enjoy B B King groups and would love to have dinner music like they had several years ago. Before I get stormed I must add that band music is enjoyed by my children and Grands which is proof positive it's not just "old folks" music! :D

[RMLincoln]

I want to put in a bid for the local folk shows that are sometimes brought on board when there is a late sailing, or if not a late sailing maybe presented as a matinee performance. Love the cultural addition. m--

[ithaca gal]

We don't go to the singing and dancing shows. However we do love to see the comedians.

 

However, when the comedians come on at 10 PM, they should be allowed to do adult material. Not necessarily a lot of profanity, etc., just adult material. There was a comedian on the new Amsterdam this past week and a young boy sat in the front row and certainly stifled the comedian's creativity.

 

If you want to offer family friendly entertainment, have an 8 PM family show and a 10 PM adult show.

[brainyblonde]

Show times at 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM are not to our liking. On a couple of our cruises, probably TA's, show times were 7:00 and 9:00 PM. The main (late) dining guests (us) could attend the show and then go to dinner. The 9:00 show could accommodate all the open seating diners who generally dine around 7:00 PM. Early seating (5:30 PM) is just too early for us. We enjoy our same table and wait staff with a quieter dinner upstairs. How HAL decides to program their shows probably has something to do with alcohol consumption in the bars. Yet, on more than one longer cruise we experienced 7 PM and 9 PM shows.

 

HAL are you listening?

[taxmantoo]

Show times at 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM are not to our liking. On a couple of our cruises, probably TA's, show times were 7:00 and 9:00 PM. The main (late) dining guests (us) could attend the show and then go to dinner. The 9:00 show could accommodate all the open seating diners who generally dine around 7:00 PM. Early seating (5:30 PM) is just too early for us. We enjoy our same table and wait staff with a quieter dinner upstairs. How HAL decides to program their shows probably has something to do with alcohol consumption in the bars. Yet, on more than one longer cruise we experienced 7 PM and 9 PM shows.

 

We absolutely hate it when they do that! The reason we choose late sitting is that we like to enjoy the day as much as possible. When they do that, we are reduced to following an early dining schedule by starting to get ready around 5 pm if we want to see the show, specially when it happens on a formal night. So we always choose to miss the show. And then after late dinner, there is little or no entertainment other than the Piano Bar and the Northern Lights. And we missed the show!

[RuthC]

Show times at 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM are not to our liking.

 

HAL are you listening?

They seem to be.

There was a lengthy period of time when all the shows for late seating passengers were before dinner. It meant I had to choose between cocktail time and the show; couldn't have both.

It also meant that I had to come in early from my day, exactly when I wanted to wind down with a peaceful activity.

I want "dinner and a show" not "show and a dinner".

 

There have been a few cruises where there were three shows in the evening; 6:30, 8:00, and 10:00 This makes for a pretty good choice of time for everyone, but I'm sure brings its own set of challenges for management.

No system is perfect.

[taxmantoo]

There have been a few cruises where there were three shows in the evening; 6:30, 8:00, and 10:00 This makes for a pretty good choice of time for everyone, but I'm sure brings its own set of challenges for management.

No system is perfect.

 

We love it when these options are offered.

Another reason we dislike the two show option at 7 pm and 9 pm is that, although the 7 pm show is supposedly geared to late dinners, the few times we have attended, the theatre is filled with early dinners who gulped down their dinner in a hurry in order to attend this show. It was the most people we have seen in the theatre at one time other than the discontinued disembarkation talk. We have never attended the 9 pm show as we are still enjoying dinner but my guess would be that it is probably very poorly attended.

[RuthC]

We love it when these options are offered.

A few times, when there have been three shows, and an exceptionally good guest entertainer, I have gone to the 6:30 show, had time for a cocktail after, then dinner and the 10:00 show. It is nice to have that opportunity, and since the very early show is at 6:30 at least there is a cocktail time, albeit shortened.

[Arwen]

I like comedians and hate "dancing with the stars". You can't please everyone, that is for sure. I would love some more contemporary music. Maybe Beyonce, Adele, etc.

 

 

So agree. Seems like with the exception of Princess, that HAL and even Celebrity are stuck somewhere between the 70's and 80's as far as dance music goes.

 

Guess I am an 'outlier', as I am in my 60's, love the stage productions (love watching the dancers and learning)

 

I prefer dance music that at least is as recent as the past ten years:p

 

In fact, two Princess Deck Parties we attended (at night), there were oldies but far more recent songs to dance to.